h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Ah. Didn't notice that one.
But I'm bringing all the sheep.

Deal

Alright, done.
It's not quite as flowery as the other stuff, but it gives you something to explain later on.

D'evening, and since you lurk...

Here's one for an American history expert (or two, since librarians might lurk as well?)

This is to help a writer I know (not hootoo-persuaded yet, but there's time). She needs a token that has origins in the American revolution, and that was adopted as their own by both sides in the Civil War. You savvy? A popular song would be good, for example. But which one? Or an emblem, perhaps. Or (possibly) a legendary hero.

Don't ask why. Too complicated. But the stuff she's writing has real quality, so help us out and you might one day see your suggestion on the immortal page.

Pin

Well. This is hard. The purple mountains majesty are in the west. The amber waves of grain in the south, for the most part. And so are the fruited plains.

Let's see. First thing and most obvious thing that comes to mind is the icon of the Revolutionary War, George Washington. He was a Federalist that worked for the creation of the country - so the Union wanted to preserve George Washington's united America. On the other hand, he was a revolutionary who was working against a tyrant (King George for Washington, but in the Civil War it was Lincoln), and the Confederacy saw itself as seeking Indepedence as Washington had, a second time. They called it the 'Second War of Indepedence'. But then again, they said that about the War of 1812 too. Washington was one Confederate stamps and money, just like he is now. It's always bothered me that the south revered Washington though, because South Carolina, the first state to secede, was one of the last to join the Revolution and had quite a lot of loyalists.

They had a lot of the same heroes. Thomas Jefferson too. He helped build up the Union and the Constitution, which the Union liked, but he was a slave-owner and believed more in states' rights, which the South liked. He was also on quite a few of the Confederacy's stamps.

As far as emblems go, I think the South wanted to keep its symbols different from the USA - that is, you didn't see eagles on Confederate quarters. The flags looked similar (red white and blue, a star for each state, etc) when the Confederacy was first formed. But they changed that so there wouldn't be confusion on the battlefield. But I guess the stars and stripes are something they shared.

As for songs, I have no idea. The Confederacy's anthem was 'Dixie' (written by an Ohioan, by the way), which is pretty exclusive to the South. The south had a lot of songs like that. They all pretty much sound the same to me (http://pdmusic.org/civilwar/cws02.mid) but I can't find any that the South and North would like. The south would want some independence tunes. The North, obviously would not.

Not sure if any of this could be helpful, because it's difficult to understand what you mean.

Try to coax her on here. I can't write the entire history of the United States alone

By the way, Jefferson fits better than Washington.

I'm certainly doing my best to coax her here. Whether she'd be a help with your US history is another thing entirely!

She worked in the States (Virginia, mainly) for just about the whole of the 90s. She has a present-day novel in skeleton draft, and she's a natural storyteller. But she's even less interested in diligent research than I am.

The token in the present script is the Battle Hymn of the Republic. Don't laugh, or cry, there's a good chap. You know, and even I know, that the song's origins scarcely predate the Civil War and that the subject of its first form, John Brown, was certainly not a revolutionary hero, either temporally or temperamentally. Unless I'm way out, it's about as one-sided a song (Unionist) as you could pick.

And Harper's Ferry is actually in Virginia, right? Sheesh.

Anyway, I don't want to tell her it's plain wrong without an alternative to suggest. But with inaccuracies like that in its conception, what's otherwise a really fine piece of writing has no chance of passing publisher-muster. I fear it hasn't, anyway.

Now you have a context for the request. Jefferson as the symbol might work, I guess, but a song (if there is one) could be a simple substitution, and something inert like a flag or an emblem would be easier. Grafting a person in would need a major rework.

I suppose she could lose the historical stuff altogether, but she's got about ten thousand words of it, in imagined flashbacks by the main characters. And it's fantastic at the narrative level. It's flaw is that it's written by a Brit who thinks she's an honorary American.

I'm not surprised that the request's difficult, though. I can't quite imagine a Civil War in which both sides used the same symbols, somehow...

Pin (this is why I'd rather write than edit...)

Ah. A Briton. Makes sense now.

I must say, nothing pops into mind that makes sense. The only suggestion I can make is The Star Spangled Banner, because it's pretty much neutral, though about the flag that the Confederacy didn't use. Actually, being about the War of 1812, it favors the south because New England hated the War of 1812. Almost seceded because of it, actually.

So, it all comes full circle.

I'm currently looking at Confederate money and stamps to see if there's anything usable. Until I find something better to do, that is

Can't remember where you brought this up, and I just remembered because of your double submission of the Babbecombe fraternal twins... so I'll post here.

Tube and I discussed linking between UG and EG entries and figure it's worth a shot asking Jims. Tube asking Jims, that is... I've been bothering Jims too much in other arenas lately.

Anyway, I wouldn't get your hopes up. My prediction is that Jims will point out that since Polishers control editing rights of entries instead of the h2g2 staff, and we're just a scurvy bunch a' bandits and thieves who couldn't be trusted as far as we could be shot out of a cannon.

And he'll use those exact words.

I dropped into say something else, but noticed that your last posting is pretty apposite after Jimster's latest cold-water on 'Dancing with Tables'...

Anywaze...I'm considering volunteering to become a Scout.

No, don't laugh. I'm serious, and I'd like your opinion. The point is, I'd be doing it with a deliberate intention of changing rules from within, and I'd want to be open about this.

I think there are Scouts out there (not you, of course) who crush people's spirit. I've seen to much good writing battered into mediocrity and too many potential contributors driven away. I want to do what I can to try and redress this. There's a fight to be fought, on the simple principle that good writing that bends rules is better than ordinary writing that conforms.

Your opinion please, Jodan. Should I do it?

Pin

Don't laugh? Fine. I can use another smiley.

I'm tempted to say you should do it for my amusement, but I do think you bring something into the PR threads you comment in. From what I've seen, you're often very insightful, and more thorough and specific than the vast majority of commenters.

Your posts around here have made me try to be nicer and kinder to authors who don't quite grasp the EG purpose yet (but then again, I remember being one), so who better to help lead the fight that ought be fought?

A lot of scouts are tired of dealing with those 'Earth - Mostly Harmless' entries or something in the first person, so they get upset and don't treat them like people.

Scouting is also about picking suitable entries and working with ordinary entries though. It's not very hard, but if you want to be one of the better scouts it can take quite a bit of time - reading entries, writing a response, collecting moves (I really find moving entries boring and I don't do it often), keeping up with the Yahoo! Group, and a number of other things (like if a new scout volunteers you can show him or her the ropes)

I think you'd be a positive influence on the scouts if you can keep up. And you'll be perfectly fine if you don't overreact to anything - my resigning from the scouts, gurus and ACEs was because of an overreaction.



PS- Too bad about Dancing on Tables, eh? The eds are having quite a few issues behind the scenes. Email me if you're curious.

Ta, Jodes.

I've volunteered. If accepted, I'll try to keep up, and try not overreact...





....y'know, this could be harder than I thought.

It's not so hard. I found it easier than I thought it would be

...the second time anyway.

I hope you're right. I'm not good at hard.

Pah!
I've read your stuff. This'll be compared to that.

Hiya Jodan

Well, a week's gone by since volunteering, and I've heard nothing. Did anyone notice, do you reckon?

Pin (fondly imagining that they're agonising over this out there in Scout-space)

Well, usually a scout drops by with hints and stuff, but the Eds don't notice until recruiting time. There haven't been any drummings in the scout forum. Unless it was in one of the uninteresting emails I don't bother with.

I reckon I could drop by to bump it up

I'd hate to taint your rep, dear chap.

Aren't they recruiting now, then? It says there are vacancies on the Scout's Home Page

I don't have much of a rep, good sir.

That page isn't updated much. They recruit when they want to.

Offer's still valid to send a bump up. A good scout just left. I'm sure it'd be useful to have another good scout.

But the real reason I'm posting is that I saw you talking to Waz about not feeling appreciation from the towers. Don't think too much about it. I've had an entry rejected from the UG myself, and in the email there wasn't any mention of quality. Jims is just trying to get to the point.

Babbacombe is an incredible piece of writing. Jims is just trying to cover all bases. I've heard that rule about academic song quotes before around site. I think we can argue that something doesn't become less academic when it becomes more creative. Your story is, based on what I read from the PR article, historically accurate and detailed.

I've got a lot of fights to pick with the towers, but this will not be forgotten. If you would like, I can give you some more details, but that'll be in email